Coast to Coast AM
Coast to Coast AM is a North American (U.S. and Canada) late-night syndicated radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics, but most frequently ones that relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was created by Art Bell and is distributed by Premiere Radio Networks. The program currently airs seven nights a week 1:00 a.m. – 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time / 10:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m. Pacific Time. As of 2006, the show attracts an estimated 4.5 million listeners every night (including world famous tile setter, Bobby Lee Reaves), making it the most listened to late night show in South America. Format and subject matter Coast to Coast AM covers unusual topics and is full of personal stories related to callers. While program content varies, most nights are focused on paranormal and pseudoscientific subjects such as the occult, remote viewing, hauntings, shadow people, the Undead, psychic reading, metaphysics, conspiracy theories, UFOs, Area 51, crop circles, cryptozoology, Big foot, the Hollow Earth hypothesis, and science fiction literature, among others. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the events of that day (as well as alternate theories surrounding them) and current U.S. counter-terrorism strategy have also become frequent themes. George Noory, the main host since Art Bell retired, also takes interest in the 2012 phenomenon and believes something will happen. After the theme song is played (Giorgio Moroder's "Chase" from Midnight Express), the broadcast is typically kicked off with a reading of current events or news stories by the host, usually with at least one bizarre or peculiar story. This is usually followed by a guest interview for the rest of the first hour (with open phone lines if there is enough time), then a lengthier three-hour interview with a second guest. For the last hour of the show, people may call in to ask questions of the second guest. Every so often, host George Noory will flip the show's format and have the longer interview guest on first to fill the first three hours of the show. In this format, the primary interview begins after the reading of the news and then the first break. In the last hour in this "flipped" format, the last hour will sometimes feature guest with a shorter subject or, more often than not, be simply an hour of open lines. Occasionally, round table discussions are held on one of the show's common topics. Conventional topics are sometimes discussed, with interviews with notable authors and political talk sometimes featured. On rare occasions, hosts have cut interviews short when it became clear that guests were being dishonest, unethical, unintelligible, abusive, or patronizing. When this happens, the rest of the show will be filled with open lines. Guests that have interviews cut short due to bad phone connections for example, or at the last minute becoming unavailable are generally rescheduled for a later date. Some guests have been challenged. However, the overall tone of the show is generally friendly toward paranormal and fringe views, and apart from panel discussions and advertised debates, guests are generally free to air their views unopposed. In 2008, George Noory volunteered an elaboration of the show's policy respecting the controversial opinions of regular guests. He explained that, provided there was no element of hostility toward third parties, it was program policy to allow expression of opinion unchallenged. He gave as an example Richard C. Hoagland's contention that features on Mars are artificial, constructed by a civilization that once inhabited the planet. Noory accepted that this opinion has no support whatsoever in the planetary science community, but said that Coast to Coast AM exists in part to provide a forum for such eccentric ideas. He added that, since guests are never paid appearance fees, it is inevitable that promotion of books, videos, and web sites is often a motivation for guests to sacrifice a night's sleep. During hours of "open lines", calls are taken and put on air. Under George Noory, open lines have added topics for callers to share their experiences or stories about a particular issue or situation. The show has multiple call-in numbers for: # "East of the Rockies" # "West of the Rockies" # "First-time callers" # "International callers" # A "wild card" line # Skype (when Noory is hosting) They are all announced at the beginning of each broadcast by Ross Mitchell. Since 2007, Coast to Coast AM rolls out more numbers on special occasions, including lines that are reserved for special "themed" callers, for example those who claim to be from other dimensions, time periods, and those possessed by spirits. The Halloween edition of Coast to Coast AM becomes Ghost to Ghost AM, as listeners call in with their ghost stories. The New Year's Eve show usually entails listeners calling in their predictions for the coming year, and the host (commonly Art Bell) rating the predictions made a year earlier. In recent years, the host of the New Year's Eve prediction show has been cautioning the open line callers that they may not predict the assassination of any person or the death of the US president. The 2006 first person shooter Prey featured Art Bell as a guest star and featured him as himself in mock episodes of the show with guests calling in to discuss the various extraterrestrial or mythical phenomena making up the game's story line, sometimes to advance the plot and other times simply for humour. Hosts George Noory hosts the show on weeknights and the first Sunday of every month. John B. wells hosts the show on Saturday nights. Ian Punnett hosts the show on the second Sunday of every month. George Knapp hosts the 3rd and 4th Sunday of each month, and when there is a 5th Sunday, Art Bell or a fill-in hosts the show. On some 3rd and 4th Sundays, Rob Simone fills in for George Knapp. Ian Punnett announced on December 3 that as of the first of the year, he will be hosting the show one Sunday a month. He said that he is suffering from tinnitius, increasingly severe and accelerating hearing loss, and headaches. He is taking time off for treatment. John B. Wells will be taking over as the Saturday night host. Former hosts Mike Siegel hosted the show from April 2000 until February 2001. He became a frequent substitute of the show's host, Art Bell in late 1999, and when Bell announced his retirement in early 2000, he recommended Siegel to succeed him. Siegel maintained the format of the show that Art Bell had created, but his personal style was very different, and the show became less popular. Siegel hosted the show from Seattle, Washington, where he lived. Early in 2001, Bell decided to return, and Siegel left the show. Other past hosts include Hilly Rose, Barbara Simpson, Whitley Strieber and (on a rotating basis) Rollye James. Broadcast area Coast to Coast AM is broadcast on over 500 United States affiliates (along with a limited number of FM stations), as well as numerous Canadian affiliates, several of which stream the show on their station's website. The show's Streamlink service offers live Internet feeds of the show by subscription. The program is also broadcast on XM Satellite Radio in the United States, on Talk Radio 165, for 11 hours per day. Due to XM Satellite Radio's operational assistance agreement with Clear Channel, Coast to Coast AM was forbidden from broadcasting on Sirius Satellite Radio until XM and Sirius merged in 2008. The show's complete schedule can be found on its website. Because the show is so frequently repeated, audible cue signals are inserted at the beginning and end of commercial breaks, to facilitate substitution of commercials by local stations. Guests A complete list of guests is available on the Coast to Coast website, where they can be searched by show date, year, alphabet, etc.http://www.coasttocoastam.com/guests Associated shows Several shows associated with Coast to Coast AM have aired in the slot immediately preceding the late Saturday night edition of the program, from 6–10 p.m. Pacific time. Dreamland Dreamland was another Art Bell creation, nearly identical to Coast to Coast AM but less caller driven. Bell hosted Dreamland on early Sunday evenings, until he relinquished control of the show to Whitley Strieber. It continued to precede Coast to Coast AM on most affiliate stations on Sunday nights, but Premiere Radio moved the show to Saturday night after it began to syndicate Matt Drudge, and then dropped the program entirely. It is now heard over the Internet, exclusively at UnknownCountry.com. Dreamland continues to focus on many of the same topics as its sister program, although often with a more spiritual point-of-view, as well as an increased emphasis on extra-terrestrials. Coast to Coast Live Upon Art Bell's January 2006 return, Ian Punnett hosted Coast To Coast Live on Saturdays from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Eastern Time. A spin-off of the original Coast to Coast AM, the show covered similar topics as its flagship program. With Bell's July 2007 retirement, Coast to Coast Live was discontinued, with Punnett returning to host the regular Saturday edition. Art Bell, Somewhere in Time Replacing Coast to Coast Live in the late Saturday time slot is a series of reruns of classic Art Bell episodes of Coast to Coast AM, under the name of "Somewhere in Time." Newsletters The radio show publishes a monthly newsletter for subscribers called After Dark. It discusses matters covered on the show. It has fourteen inner pages and approximately 46% of the fourteen pages are illustrations and photos, rather than text. The front cover is artwork and the back cover is a list of recent shows. The show now sports a free daily enewsletter called CoastZone. The After Dark newsletter ceased publication in January 2011. See also *List of radio shows with a focus on the paranormal References * * * * * External links *[http://www.coasttocoastam.com/ Coast to Coast AM website] *[http://www.coasttocoastam.net/ Forum] Category:American talk radio programs Category:Radio programs on XM Radio Category:Conspiracy Category:Coast to Coast AM Category:Paranormal mass media Category:1984 radio programme debuts Category:1984 establishments in the United States Category:Alternative radio programs es:Coast to Coast AM fr:Coast to Coast AM ru:Coast to Coast AM fi:Coast to Coast AM